Forgotten lottery ticket held big surprise for truck driver. ‘I was pretty excited’
A truck driver forgot about his lottery ticket — but it held a big surprise.
Zachary Clements finally checked the ticket and discovered it was worth $100,000, leaving him in a good mood, the Virginia Lottery wrote in a Feb. 5 news release.
“I was pretty excited,” said Clements, a delivery truck driver and business owner.
Clements — who enjoys playing the lottery at different stores — hit the jackpot after a stop at Sheltman’s Gas & Grocery in Buena Vista. While at the store roughly 55 miles northeast of Roanoke, officials said he bought a $5 ticket for the Ca$h Corners Crossword game.
Clements threw the scratch-off into his truck before it escaped his mind. Eventually, he checked the ticket, which beat 1-in-1.224 million odds to score the game’s top prize.
Officials in their news release didn’t say how much of the prize Clements kept after taxes. After getting richer, the Buena Vista man said he hopes to invest in his business.
It’s not the first time someone is glad they remembered playing the lottery. Last year, a North Carolina woman found a forgotten Powerball ticket in her purse and learned it won big, McClatchy News reported.
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This story was originally published February 6, 2024 at 9:08 AM with the headline "Forgotten lottery ticket held big surprise for truck driver. ‘I was pretty excited’."
